Book Review: "I Will!"

I Will! Nine Traits of the Outwardly Focused Christian
by Thom S. Rainer

This book is the follow-up work to I Am a Church Member by the President of Lifeway Christian Resources.  That book was intended to show what the attitudes of Christian church members should be.  The main points from I Am a Church Member are covered briefly in chapter one of I Will!

After the first chapter, I Will! focuses on the actions that a Christian church member should have.  They are introduced in eight chapters.

In this book, Thom Rainer does a good job in making sure that readers understand that it is not just about having the correct attitudes, but that there are some specific actions that need to accompany the correct attitudes.  He uses examples from the Bible and everyday life to show how these actions look in life.

One point that I think was really good in this book is the term that was introduced: “churchianity”.  This is a term that Rainer defines as “practicing our church and religious beliefs according to human standards rather than biblical guidelines” (93).  Sadly, while the term ‘churchianity’ may not be found in the dictionary, it is found across the land.  Many churches are operating not in the power of the Holy Spirit, but in the power and according to the desires of people.

Recommendation:  I would recommend this book to any person that is wanting to understand a little better what a Christian church member’s life is to look like, especially in the context of church life.  Thom Rainer does a good job of pointing people to what biblical church membership looks like.

Read More

Book Review: "I Will!"

I Will! Nine Traits of the Outwardly Focused Christian
by Thom S. Rainer

This book is the follow-up work to I Am a Church Member by the President of Lifeway Christian Resources.  That book was intended to show what the attitudes of Christian church members should be.  The main points from I Am a Church Member are covered briefly in chapter one of I Will!

After the first chapter, I Will! focuses on the actions that a Christian church member should have.  They are introduced in eight chapters.

In this book, Thom Rainer does a good job in making sure that readers understand that it is not just about having the correct attitudes, but that there are some specific actions that need to accompany the correct attitudes.  He uses examples from the Bible and everyday life to show how these actions look in life.

One point that I think was really good in this book is the term that was introduced: "churchianity".  This is a term that Rainer defines as "practicing our church and religious beliefs according to human standards rather than biblical guidelines" (93).  Sadly, while the term 'churchianity' may not be found in the dictionary, it is found across the land.  Many churches are operating not in the power of the Holy Spirit, but in the power and according to the desires of people.

Recommendation:  I would recommend this book to any person that is wanting to understand a little better what a Christian church member's life is to look like, especially in the context of church life.  Thom Rainer does a good job of pointing people to what biblical church membership looks like.

Read More

I Am A Church Member Giveaway

Last week, I picked up a copy of I Am A Church Member by Thom Rainer at Lifeway bookstore. I really enjoyed reading this book. I posted a blog about it here. You can check out what I thought about it.

I was contacted by the publicist for this book and was given a copy to give away. So here's the details...

Winner will receive a free copy of I Am A Church Member by Thom Rainer.

To be entered in the giveaway, leave a comment in the comment section of this blog telling what is your dream vacation location by Sunday 11:59pm CST.

Winner will be selected at random and contacted via email.

Read More

I Am A Church Member

Yesterday, I picked up a copy of I Am A Church Member by Thom Rainer.  I had heard many good things about this book through social media like Facebook and Twitter.  I have a reading list a mile long, but as I was going through Lifeway, I came across this book (and it was on sale!) and decided to go ahead and pick it up.

My first reaction in looking at the book was “it’s a lot smaller than I anticipated.”  The book is only about 80 pages long.  In my mind, I wondered if this little book could really be what all the hype I was hearing about.  After finishing the book this morning, I was reminded that dynamite comes in small packages, too.

As a Christian and a pastor, I have seen the deterioration of church membership especially within the denomination that I am part.  Many do not see the need to be official members of a local church.  Those who are members of local churches many times do not have a proper view as to what it means to be a church member.  Part of the reason for this is on the churches themselves.  There have been many times when I have been a part of a local church but there was no teaching as to what a church member should be.

I must agree with the 23 people who endorsed this book on the beginning pages that Thom Rainer has put together a great little book to begin the process of helping churches and members know the importance, reason and responsibilities of a church member.  It is a great little read that is very thought-provoking and causes one to address some important issues of being a member of a local church.

I would highly recommend that every person who is a member of a Christian church or anyone curious to what the big deal with church membership is about to pick up a copy of this little book and dive in.  I believe strongly that you will not be disappointed.

Read More

I Am A Church Member

Yesterday, I picked up a copy of I Am A Church Member by Thom Rainer.  I had heard many good things about this book through social media like Facebook and Twitter.  I have a reading list a mile long, but as I was going through Lifeway, I came across this book (and it was on sale!) and decided to go ahead and pick it up.

My first reaction in looking at the book was "it's a lot smaller than I anticipated."  The book is only about 80 pages long.  In my mind, I wondered if this little book could really be what all the hype I was hearing about.  After finishing the book this morning, I was reminded that dynamite comes in small packages, too.

As a Christian and a pastor, I have seen the deterioration of church membership especially within the denomination that I am part.  Many do not see the need to be official members of a local church.  Those who are members of local churches many times do not have a proper view as to what it means to be a church member.  Part of the reason for this is on the churches themselves.  There have been many times when I have been a part of a local church but there was no teaching as to what a church member should be.

I must agree with the 23 people who endorsed this book on the beginning pages that Thom Rainer has put together a great little book to begin the process of helping churches and members know the importance, reason and responsibilities of a church member.  It is a great little read that is very thought-provoking and causes one to address some important issues of being a member of a local church.

I would highly recommend that every person who is a member of a Christian church or anyone curious to what the big deal with church membership is about to pick up a copy of this little book and dive in.  I believe strongly that you will not be disappointed.

 

LifewayWikipedia: The expression lifeway is a fairly new technical term that is not yet in most general dictionaries and for which most textbooks instead still use "way of life". →

Read More

Church Membership

I came across this video interview with John Piper as he was asked about the issue of church membership.  I believe that he gave a great answer to this question that is asked by so many today in our culture.  Check it out and feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdpL42LmDVA&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3]

Read More

Church Membership: Outdated?

In my last post, I talked about the decline in church membership among the Southern Baptist Convention.  As an article in USA Today recently stated, church membership has dropped for the fourth consecutive year.  This is not a good trend for the SBC.

I have had different thoughts about church membership over my few years.  I became a member of a Southern Baptist Church at the age of 15.  I wasn't sure what that meant.  I had made a public profession of faith and was to be baptized.  After that, I didn't have much a clue as to what it meant to be a church member.  I thought that it was just your card to say that you worshiped at that particular church.  As I began working in church ministry, I began to see that there was supposed to be much more to this thing called church membership.  It was to be much more than just saying I go to "this church".

As a 30-something myself, I see that my generation is looking for more than just filling a pew.  Our generation is one that wants to make a difference in the world.  We know that our resources are limited and that we cannot waste time with things that will not accomplish goals that we set out.  Sadly, to many church membership seems to be outdated.

I strongly believe that church membership is anything but outdated.  Jonathan Leeman wrote a great article about 12 Reasons Why Church Membership Matters.  I would encourage you to take a look at it.  Church membership is a key element in the work of the local church.  It is the most evident way that we can show others who we belong to (Jesus) and what we believe.

In my next post, I will talk about little about some things that I think that we can do to see a turn around in this negative trend that we find ourselves in with the decline in church membership among the Southern Baptist Convention.  Feel free to leave a comment because I love to hear other people's thoughts.

Read More

Thoughts on SBC Church Membership Decline

I came across an article on USA Today about the declining numbers across the Southern Baptist Convention (the denomination of which I am part). You can see the article for yourself by clicking here.  It was a pretty good article other than the part where the writer calls Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer both the President of Lifeway Christian Resources.

I agree with a point made by Ed Stetzer that many Southern Baptists have lost a passion for evangelism.  One reason that church membership has dropped is that those who are members do not share their faith with friends, family, co-workers, or neighbors like they once did.  If there is no sharing of the Gospel, there sure won't be any receiving of the Gospel and people joining churches to work together for God's Kingdom.

I think that there might be another reason for the decline in church membership within the Southern Baptist Convention.  The need to reevaluate church membership in the local church (or the refusal to reevaluate church membership) could be a huge deterrent for having people join a SBC church.  If church membership doesn't mean much (a topic I look to blog about this week), then today's generation of young adults aren't going to sign up.

There's no doubt that something has to turn around.  If we are going to see people come to faith in Christ and obey Him in working together with other believers in the context of a local church, then we got some work to do.

What are your thoughts about the current trends of church membership, baptisms, etc within the Southern Baptist Convention?

Read More